JP2552531B2 - Car wash machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial application] The present invention is provided with a water discharge means, a brush device, a blower device, and the like in a gate-shaped traveling frame that travels across an automobile, and is associated with the going-out of the gate-shaped traveling frame. The present invention relates to a car washing machine of a type that can perform at least a brush cleaning step for operating a brush device and a drying step for operating a blower device when the gate-shaped traveling frame moves backward.

[Prior Art] The first known car wash of this type
~ It demonstrates based on the example of FIG. Reference numeral 1 denotes a gate-shaped traveling frame that travels back and forth on a pair of rails 2 laid in parallel so as to straddle a vehicle A stopped between the rails. In the gate-shaped traveling frame 1,
A water discharge means including a plurality of arched water discharge nozzles 3 to 6 and a spray nozzle 7, a brush device including an upper surface brush 8 and a pair of side surface brushes 9 and 9 ', a blower (not shown) and a communication with the blower. Blower nozzle
It is equipped with a blower device consisting of 10/11.

As the gate-shaped traveling frame 1 moves forward, each nozzle 3 serving as a water discharge means
Releases water and detergent from ~ 7 and brushes 8 and 9
• Rotate 9'to act on the automobile A as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 for washing. Then, as the traveling frame 1 moves backward, the blower device is operated to blow air from the blower nozzles 10 and 11 to the automobile to dry it. At this time, the blower nozzle 10 moves up and down along the shape of the vehicle body as shown in FIG.
We are trying to improve the drying effect. In addition to the above-described one-way car wash, this type of device also performs car wash including work such as waxing for two or more reciprocations. In any of these works, a drying work is executed in the last return process. It

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, in the conventional car washing machine as described above, the blower device is operated from the rear end of the vehicle toward the front end during the drying operation. In the rear-end bumper part), the blower nozzle 10 acts on the ascending vehicle body surface, so the water adhering to the vehicle body does not flow smoothly forward and remains, which is a troublesome thing to wipe off after the car wash. was there. Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is how to obtain a sufficient drying operation that does not require wiping.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve these problems, in the present invention, a gate-shaped traveling frame that travels across an automobile is equipped with water discharge means, a brush device, and a blower device, and In a car washing machine that can perform at least a brush cleaning step that causes the brush device to act, and a drying step that causes the blower device to act as the gate travel frame moves backward, a means for detecting the traveling position of the gate travel frame. A means for detecting the rear window portion of the automobile in the brush cleaning step, a means for detecting the rear end of the automobile in the brush cleaning step, and a running position and a rear end when the rear window portion is detected Means for storing the traveling position, and the location of the blower device from the rear end of the vehicle to the rear window based on the stored rear window position and rear end position. Based on the position data that is set by the setting device and the traveling position of the portal traveling frame in the drying step, the blower device is used by the blower device to drive the vehicle When the blower device reaches the rear end of the vehicle, the gate-shaped traveling frame is moved back again and the blower device is moved to the predetermined section. It has been improved so that an intensive drying operation can be carried out by providing a means for controlling so as to cause overlapping actions.

In addition, a brush cleaning step in which a gate-shaped traveling frame that travels across an automobile is equipped with a water discharge means, a brush device, a blower device, and the like, and the brush device is actuated as the gate-shaped traveling frame moves forward,
In a car washing machine capable of at least performing a drying step in which a blower device is actuated as the gate-shaped traveling frame moves backward, a means for detecting a traveling position of the gate-shaped traveling frame and a front end of the vehicle in the brush cleaning step. Means, means for detecting the rear end of the vehicle in the brush cleaning step, means for storing the traveling position when the front end is detected and the traveling position when the rear end is detected, and the stored front end position and rear end position Based on the position data given by the setting means and the traveling position of the gate-shaped traveling frame, the blower device sets a position reaching a predetermined section from the rear end of the automobile to the rear window based on As the gate-shaped traveling frame moves backward, the blower device shifts the gate-shaped traveling frame in the forward direction at a position where the blower device has passed the predetermined section from the rear end of the vehicle, and then the blower is moved. Location is by go-around again portal heald reaches the car rear end may be configured to and a means for controlling so as to overlap act blower apparatus in the predetermined section.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings starting from FIG.

FIG. 4 is a structural explanatory view of an embodiment of the present invention. Since the basic structure is the same as that of FIGS. 1 to 3, the corresponding parts will be described with the same symbols.

Both ends of the upper brush 8 and a pair of swing arms 12, 12 'which are axially supported on both sides of the portal frame 1 are supported so that they can freely move up and down in contact with the vehicle body. Reference numeral 13 is a motor for rotationally driving the upper surface brush 8, and 14 is an air cylinder for vertically moving the upper surface brush 8 via the swinging arms 12, 12 '. The upper surface brush 8 is normally held in the upper position shown in the figure by an air cylinder 14, and is operated so as to release the bias and move down to contact the vehicle body during cleaning. Reference numerals 15 ₁ to 15 ₃ denote detectors for detecting the position of the upper surface brush 8, which are reed switches, and detect a magnet (not shown) attached to the driven arm 34 formed integrally with the swing arm 12 to detect the upper surface. The height of the brush 8 is detected. The detector 15 _3, in which the upper surface brush 8 when the portal heald 1 has forward stroke is detected from reaching the window portion of the front and rear of the car, corresponds to the rear window portion detecting unit of the invention. In general, most passengers have a height of 120 cm or more to the ceiling, and most bonnets and trunks are below this height. Therefore, in this embodiment, the lower part of the upper surface brush 8 is above the ground. The position of the switch 15 ₃ is set so that the detection operation can be performed when the height reaches about 120 cm.

The side brushes 9 and 9'are suspended from a pair of carriers 17 and 17 'which run on a rail 16 which is passed above the gate-shaped traveling frame 1, and are rotationally driven by motors 18 and 18'. Career
17 and 17 'have weights that are biased toward each other.
19 and 19 'and air cylinders 20 and 20' that operate in the direction of pulling them apart from each other against the bias of the weights 19 and 19 'are connected to each other, and the side brushes 9 and 9'are opened and closed (contacted). Release) Operate. The side brushes 9 and 9'are normally held in the open position shown by the air cylinders 20 and 20 ', and at the time of car washing, the air cylinders 20 and 20' are de-energized to close once, and then open and rotate to rotate the vehicle. The front side of A is cleaned and the air cylinders 20 and 20
The urging of 20 'is released, and the urging of the weights 19 and 19' causes the brushes 9 and 9'to contact the side surface of the vehicle body (see FIG. 2). 21.21 'is a detector attached to the carrier 17.17', which has a micro switch for detecting tilting of the supporting side brush 9,9 'with respect to the carrier 17,17'. It is detected that 9'abuts the front end of the vehicle body (when the traveling frame is moving forward) or the rear end (when the traveling frame is moving backward). 22 ・ 22 ′ ・ 23 ・ 23 ′ is the air cylinder 20
・ Air cylinder 20 with a detector attached to 20 '
A detector 22/22 'for detecting the closed state of the side brush 9/9', which comprises a reed switch responsive to a magnet built in the piston 20 ', functions as the rear end detecting means described in the claims. .

The blower nozzle 10 is supported by a link arm 24 so as to be able to move up and down, and has a configuration capable of moving along the shape of the upper surface of the vehicle body. 25 is a blower nozzle 10 via a link arm 24
An air cylinder for moving up and down, a guide wheel 26 attached to the tip of the blower nozzle 10 and in contact with the vehicle body, 27 (see FIG. 8 (b)) detects contact pressure between the guide wheel and the vehicle body, and sends air to the air cylinder 25. Is an air valve device for filling and opening of the blower nozzle to raise and lower the blower nozzle. The blower nozzle 10 is normally held in the upper position shown by the air cylinder 25, and during the drying operation, the air cylinder 25
When the guide wheel 26 comes down, the guide wheel 26 comes into contact with the vehicle body and moves up and down according to the contact pressure between the guide wheel and the vehicle body. Blower nozzles 11 and 11 'are fixed on both sides of the portal frame,
Blow air toward the side of the car.

Numerals 28 and 28 'are motors for traveling the portal traveling frame 1, which are of a type capable of rotating in the forward and reverse directions. The wheels 29 are rotationally driven to reciprocate the traveling frame 1. A rotary encoder 30 detects the rotation of the motor 28, and outputs a pulse each time the motor gives a rotation of a unit angle. By counting the pulse signal, the traveling position of the traveling frame 1 can be obtained. Reference numeral 31 is a detector provided below the gate-shaped traveling frame 1, and comprises a switch means for opening and closing by contacting a convex piece 33 fixed to the laying surface of the rails 2 and 2'as shown in the figure. Detect the position. Reference numeral 32 denotes an operation panel provided on the front surface of the portal traveling frame 1, which will be described in detail later.

In addition to this, this embodiment is provided with a nozzle or the like as a water discharge means, but since it has a known structure as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, it will not be particularly described here.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the control system of the above embodiment.

A control unit 40 includes a CPU 41, a memory 42, and an input / output circuit 43.
It has a microcomputer equipped with. The input port of the input / output circuit 43 is connected to each of the detectors 15 ₁ to 15 ₃ · 21 · 21 ′ · 22 · 22 ′ · 23 · 23 ′ · 31 and the rotary encoder 30 including the operation panel 32, and The output port is connected to the relay board 44 for driving the motors 13, 18, 18 ', 28, the air cylinders 14, 20, 20', 25, and the blower.

The operation panel 32 is provided with a car wash course selection key 45, a repeat blow key 46, and a start key 47. The car wash course selection key 45 is set to "A" for each key.
The desired course is selected from the "C" car wash course. The "A" course carries out a normal car wash for washing and drying as the traveling frame 1 makes one round trip, and the "B" course makes two round trips. Car wash wax, wash, wax, and dry as you run, and on the "C" course, wash, clean, wax, and dry car wash with three round trips. Repeat blow key 46,
The purpose of the present invention is to provide an important point dry operation according to the present invention,
If this key is pressed after the course is selected with the course selection key 45, the portion where water drops tend to remain is automatically dried so as to be concentrated. The start key 47 is used to input the start of car wash.Select the car wash course with the course selection key 45, set the priority dry with the repeat blow key 46 if necessary, and then press this start key 47 to execute the car wash. To be done.

6 and 7 are flowcharts showing the main part of the program in the control unit 40, and FIG. 6 shows the course selection key.
When the car is washed in the "repeat blow" mode in which the "A" course (one car wash) is designated by 45 and the repeat blow key 46 is pressed, FIG. 7 shows the rotary encoder 30 during the car wash. 3 shows a routine that is interrupted by a pulse input from. The operation of the embodiment will be described below with reference to this figure.

When the car wash is started on the operation panel 32, first, the counter L which gives the traveling position of the traveling frame 1 is cleared to 0 (1), and then the motors 28 and 28 'are activated to move the traveling frame 1 forward and the air cylinder. Release the bias of 20 and 20 'to close the side brushes 9 and 9', and further air cylinder
The power of 14 is released and the motor 13 is driven to start cleaning the upper surface of the vehicle body (2). When a pulse signal is input from the rotary encoder 30 as the traveling frame 1 travels, the routine shown in FIG. 7 is executed. . By traveling frame 1 going,
The side brushes 9 and 9'closed contact the front end of the automobile A,
When this is detected by the detectors 21 and 21 '(3), the traveling of the traveling frame 1 and the cleaning by the upper surface brush 8 are temporarily stopped (4), the motors 18 and 18' are driven, and the air cylinders 20 and 20 'are turned on. Operate to clean the front of the vehicle (5). When the side brushes 9 and 9'open and the cleaning of the front surface of the vehicle body is completed, this is detected by the detectors 23 and 23 '(6), and the traveling of the traveling frame 1 and the cleaning by the upper surface brush 8 are restarted (7). , The air cylinders 20 and 20 'are deenergized again, and the side brushes 9 and 9'are brought into contact with the side surface of the vehicle body to start the side surface cleaning (8).

Thus washing with the forward stroke of the heald 1 continued, it reaches the vehicle ceiling top brush 8 beyond the once detected position of the detector 15 ₃ along the shape of the vehicle body upper surface, again the beyond the ceiling When the arrival at the detection position is detected (9), it is determined that the upper surface brush 8 has reached the rear window portion, and the value of the counter L at this time is stored in the memory L ₁ (10). When the car is washed further and the side brushes 9 and 9 ′ reach the rear end of the vehicle body and wrap around to the rear face and are closed while washing the rear face, this is detected by the detector 22 and 22 ′ (11), and the counter L at this time is detected. The value of is stored in the memory L ₂ (12), and then the traveling of the traveling frame 1 is stopped, and at the same time, the operation of each brush 8, 9, 9 ′ is stopped and the brushes are returned to their respective standby positions to perform the cleaning process. It ends (13).

After this, the motors 28, 28 'are activated in the opposite direction to return the traveling frame 1 and the air cylinder 25 is released to lower the blower nozzle 10 to activate the blower (14). . In this way, the drying process is executed, and the control device L ₁ -C ₁ based on the value stored in the memory L ₁ by the traveling frame ₁
When (C ₁ is a constant) is reached (15), the blower nozzle 10 is once lifted by the air cylinder 15 and the backward movement of the traveling frame 1 is stopped (16), and then the traveling frame 1 is further moved forward this time to blower nozzle 10 Down (17). Where the constant C ₁ providing said control position L ₁ -C ₁ is a value determined in accordance with the positional relationship between the Burowanozuru 10 and the top brush 8 in the traveling frame 1, the heald 1 in the step (9) Position L ₁
(See FIG. 8 (a)) and the position of the traveling frame 1 when the blower nozzle 10 reaches the same position as the position of the top brush 8 in step (9) (see FIG. 8 (b)). The difference a and the traveling of the traveling frame 1 from the point where the blower nozzle 10 reaches the position of the top brush 8 in step (9) to the point P (see FIG. 8 (b)) which should be the starting point of the range to be subjected to the intensive drying. It is defined by the distance b and (C ₁ = a + b).

The traveling frame 1 is moved to the memory L ₂ along with the drying operation by going out.
When the rear end position L ₂ −C ₂ (C ₂ is a constant) is reached based on the value stored in (18), the forward movement of the traveling frame 1 is stopped (19),
The traveling frame 1 is made to go back again (20), and then to the normal drying operation. Here, the constant C ₂ providing the rear end position L ₂ -C ₂
Is a blower nozzle 10 and a side brush 9 in the traveling frame 1.
The position L ₂ of the traveling frame 1 in the step (11) and the position of the blower nozzle similar to the positions of the side brushes 9 and 9'in this step (11) are determined according to the positional relationship with 9 '. It is determined by the difference from the position of the traveling frame 1 at the time of reaching.

When the detector 31 detects that the traveling frame 1 has reached the predetermined stop position in this way (21), the traveling of the traveling frame 1 and the operation of the blower are stopped, and the blower nozzle 10 stands by above. After returning to the position (22), a series of car washing is completed.

FIG. 9 shows the operation of the blower nozzle 10 in the drying operation thus performed. In this way, the blower nozzle 10 acts reciprocally on the vehicle body surface having an ascending slope from the rear end of the automobile A to the ceiling, and it is possible to obtain a sufficient drying effect which is the same as other portions. Further, the priority dry section to be reciprocated is accurately set based on the rear window position and the vehicle body rear end position detected in the cleaning process,
It can operate without waste.

The present invention can be achieved by various configurations other than the above. For example, the length of the vehicle body may be detected by detecting the front end and the rear end of the automobile A, and the section for priority drying may be determined from this length data. That is, if the traveling position L ₃ of the traveling frame 1 at the time when the front end of the vehicle body is detected in step (3) of FIG. 6 is stored, the vehicle body length of the automobile A is determined by the rear end position L ₂ given in step (12). For example a L ₂ -L ₃ is obtained by step on the basis of this (15), L ≦ (L 2 -
_{C 2) -2 (L 2 -L} 3) / 5 and became when in turn running frame 1 in the forward stroke, it is sufficient to perform repeated drying. As a result, the weight is dried only from the rear end of the car body for a distance of 2/5 of the car body length. In addition, the priority dry section is 2 / of the car body length from the rear end of the car body.
The reason for setting the interval between 5 is that the distance from the rear end of a normal passenger car to the ceiling is within approximately 2/5 of the total vehicle length, and this ratio can be set appropriately if necessary. good.
Further, the priority dry section may be given by a constant, and in this case, 2 (L ₂ −L ₃ ) / 5 may be replaced with a constant value (usually equivalent to 1.5 to 2.0 m) to simplify the program. .

[Advantages of the Invention] The present invention is configured as described above and blows water droplets along the inclination of the vehicle body going from the rear end portion of the vehicle body where water droplets tend to remain during the drying operation to the rear window section. It is possible to automatically repeat the drying operation including the operation to act in the lowering direction, and the water droplets remaining on the rear bumper part and the rear window part are effectively removed by the drying operation associated with the normal backward movement, so the car wash The subsequent blowing operation can be eliminated.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 3 are explanatory views of the configuration and operation of a conventional example. FIG. 4 is a structural explanatory view of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a control system of the same embodiment. 6 and 7 are flowcharts showing the main part of the program of the same embodiment. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram concerning setting of a control position used in the embodiment. FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the main part of the embodiment. 1 is a gate-shaped traveling frame, 3 to 7 are nozzles that are water discharging means, 8.9
9'is a top brush and a side brush, which are brush devices,
10/11/11 ′ is a blower nozzle, which is a blower device, and a detector 15
₃ is a rear window detection means, 22 and 22 'are detectors as rear end detection means, 40 is a control section including a memory means and a control means, and 46 is a repeat blow key which is setting means for overlapping drying.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-61-205535 (JP, A) JP-A-62-221957 (JP, A)

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A brush cleaning process in which a gate-shaped traveling frame that travels across an automobile is provided with water discharge means, a brush device, a blower device, and the like, and the brush device is actuated as the gate-shaped traveling frame moves forward, and a gate-shaped structure. In a car washing machine capable of at least performing a drying step in which a blower device is operated along with the traveling of the traveling frame, a means for detecting a traveling position of the portal traveling frame, and a rear window part of the automobile in the brush cleaning step. Means, means for detecting the rear end of the vehicle in the brush cleaning step, means for storing the traveling position when the rear window part is detected and the traveling position when the rear end is detected, and the stored rear window position and Means for setting a position where the blower device reaches a predetermined section from the rear end of the vehicle to the rear window based on the rear end position; , The gate-shaped traveling frame at a position where the blower device has passed the predetermined section from the rear end of the vehicle as the gate-shaped traveling frame moves backward, based on the position data given by the setting means and the traveling position of the portal-shaped traveling frame. To forward,
After this, when the blower device reaches the rear end of the automobile, the car-driving machine is further provided with means for returning the gate-shaped traveling frame to control the blower device so as to overlap in the predetermined section. 2. A brush cleaning process in which a gate-shaped traveling frame that travels across an automobile is equipped with a water discharge means, a brush device, a blower device, and the like, and the brush device is actuated as the gate-shaped traveling frame moves forward; In a car wash capable of performing at least a drying step of operating a blower device along with the traveling of the traveling frame, a means for detecting a traveling position of the portal traveling frame, and a means for detecting a front end of the vehicle in the brush cleaning step. A means for detecting the rear end of the vehicle in the brush cleaning step, a means for storing a traveling position when the front end is detected and a traveling position when the rear end is detected, and a means for storing the front end position and the rear end position stored Means for setting a position where the blower device reaches a predetermined section from the rear end of the vehicle to the rear window, and position data and gate shape given by the setting means in the drying step. Based on the traveling position of the traveling frame, the blower device moves the portal traveling frame to the forward position at a position where the blower device has passed the predetermined section from the rear end of the vehicle as the gate traveling frame moves backward. A car washing machine, further comprising: means for returning the gate-shaped traveling frame again when the device reaches the rear end of the vehicle, and controlling the blower device so that the blower device acts in an overlapping manner in the predetermined section. 3. The car washing machine according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising means for setting whether or not to perform double drying.
A car washing machine characterized in that the control means controls the blower device so that the blower device acts in the predetermined section in an overlapping manner when the car washing is executed in a setting of performing the overlapping drying.